Child-carrying device II

ABSTRACT

A child-carrying device comprising a baby carrier ( 1, 2, 52 ), a flexible front piece ( 3 ), which at upper laterally spaced-apart portions, by means of detachable couplings ( 31 ), is connected to the baby carrier, the front piece ( 3 ) having a lower central portion that, by an appurtenant connection ( 40 ), is connected to an adjacent part of the baby carrier, whereby the front piece ( 3 ) forms a child-carrying pocket, the front piece ( 3 ) having an upper border part that extends above the level of the upper laterally spaced-apart fittings and has laterally projecting end portions at each side, each of the end portions at the end thereof carrying a first coupling part, which detachably can co-operate with an appurtenant other coupling part, the second coupling parts being carried by the baby carrier in laterally spaced-apart positions. The first and second coupling fittings have formations ( 85, 72 ) that co-operate with each other and, in the coupled state of the first and second coupling fittings, rotationally secure the first coupling fitting ( 51 ) in one of a plurality of mutually selectable rotary positions.

The invention relates to a child-carrying device of the kind that is defined in the preamble of claim 1.

Thus, the invention relates to a child-carrying device, which comprises a baby carrier that can be worn on a user's upper body part and that has a child-carrying pocket in which a child can be received, the carrying pocket being formed of a flexible front piece that, in laterally spaced-apart upper positions, is connected to the baby carrier, and that has a lower central portion connected to the carrying structure. The front piece has an upper border part that extends up above the level of the upper laterally spaced-apart connection positions. The upper border part has laterally projecting end portions. Which at the ends have fitting parts that can be coupled to the appurtenant respective fitting parts of the baby carrier, in order to support the head of the child. A child-carrying device of this kind is known, for instance, from WO 03/003880. Baby carriers of the kind in question may possibly include a stiff element, for instance in the form of a sheet on the chest side of the wearer, the sheet carrying the two fittings to which the fittings of the lateral ends of the upper front-piece portion are connected.

An object of the invention is, in such a baby carrier, with or without stiff chest plate, to provide means to form a headrest of the upper border part of the front piece, which headrest is easily adjustable and forms spaced-apart support areas against the front side of the head of the child, on either side of the mouth and nose of the child, when the child is sitting in the carrying pocket with the chest thereof facing the chest side of the wearer.

An additional object of the invention is to efficiently and comfortable afford a support of the head of the child in a generally upright orientation. An additional object is to provide simple and comfortable adjustment of the inner circumference of the head-supporting area surrounded by the upper border part of the front piece.

The objects are entirely or partly attained by the invention.

The invention is defined in the appended independent claim 1.

Embodiments of the invention are defined in the appended dependent claims.

In the following, the invention will be described by way of examples, reference being made to a baby carrier of a special design, but it should be appreciated that the invention can be applied in other forms of the baby carrier, with or without stiff lateral coupling between the laterally spaced-apart fitting parts on the front side of the baby carrier, to which parts the associated appurtenant fitting parts mounted to the laterally projecting end portions of the front piece connect.

The invention will now be described by way of examples, reference being made to the appended drawing.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a wearer who wears a child-carrying device.

FIG. 2 shows from behind the wearer having a child-carrying device.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the carrying device.

FIG. 4 shows a partial perspective view taken in the direction of the arrow IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a partial view taken along line V-V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic section taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows a sectioned view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 shows an enlarged depiction of the slide fitting of the stabilizing strap.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic section taken along line X-X in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic section taken along line XI-XI in FIG. 9.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a child-carrying device such as worn on the upper body part of a wearer. The carrying device comprises a waist belt 1, which carries a stiff plate 2 that extends upward from the waist belt 1 and is shown situated on the back side of the wearer. A front piece 3 has side edge portions that are situated in the vicinity of the respective side edge of the plate, at an upper part of the plate 2, and there the same are detachably connected to the plate 2 by means of the coupling 31. The front piece 3 has a lower central band-shaped part that is turned up against the plate 2 and attached to the same in a transversally central position by means of a coupling 40 that preferably has a plurality of vertically spaced-apart alternative fasteners on the sheet 2, for raising and lowering, respectively, the bottom of the folded over front piece 3. The side edges of the front piece 3 are spaced-apart from the side edges of the sheet 2 in the area under the coupling devices 31 for the formation of leg openings for a child sitting in the carrying pocket formed of the front piece 3. The front piece 3 has an upper border part 35 in the area above the level of the fittings 31, and the border part 35 has laterally projecting end portions, each of which at the end has a first coupling fitting 51 that can be detachably coupled to a coupling fitting 54 at the upper border of the sheet 2. When the coupling fittings 51, 54 are connected to each other, the upper border part 35 of the front piece 3 forms a headrest for the child. The side edges of the border part 35 are shown recessed in the area between the fittings 31, 54 for the formation of holes for the arms of the child. The upper border part 3 of the front piece 3 can, when the fitting parts 51 are disconnected, be folded down against the lower part of the front piece 3, around a folding line that lies on the level of the fittings 31. From FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be understood that a guide rail 50 extends along each upper corner edge area of the plate 2. Furthermore, a shoulder strap 52 is shown, which with one end 53 thereof is carried by the left guide rail 50 in FIG. 2 so that the end 53 can slide along the same under the impact of external forces. From the end 53, the strap 52 extends up on the back side of the user and over the left shoulder of the user, and from there, obliquely downward over the chest side of the wearer, and around the right side of the wearer under the right arm, and in over the back side of the wearer where the strap 52 with the other end 54 thereof is slidably connected to the right slide rail 50 in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 1, it can be seen that a stabilizing strap 60, with one end 60 thereof, is connected to the shoulder strap approximately in the middle of the chest side. From there, the strap 60 extends obliquely downward around the left side of the wearer and connects to the left slide rail 50 in FIG. 2 with the other end 62 thereof, which is displaceable along the rail 50. The strap 60 can be extended/shortened using a fitting 65 therefor, so that the shoulder strap 52 generally can be displaced in parallel downward on the chest side of the wearer, and so that the strap 52 is brought away from the neck of the user, in particular in the shoulder area.

Based on the state according to FIGS. 1 and 2, the user can disconnect the stabilizing strap 60 from the shoulder strap 2 and then open the fitting 10 of the waist belt 1 so that the waist belt 1 does not abut against the waist region of the user, but can be rotated around the waist of the user. In that connection, the shoulder strap 52 runs upward in the longitudinal direction thereof in FIG. 1, so that the sheet 2 including the front piece 3 and the carrying pocket formed thereof circles around the upper body part of the user, underneath his/her right arm, all the way to a position in the middle of the chest side of the user, the carrying pocket during this entire rotation operation being stably suspended on the shoulder strap 2.

In the new placement of the carrying pocket 4, the user can again urge the buckle 10 so that the load from the child is carried against the hips via the sheet 2 and the waist belt 1. The child-carrying device may naturally also be provided with the shoulder strap 52 arranged in the opposite diagonal direction.

In FIG. 4, it can be seen that the lateral end portion 36 of the border part 35 is elongate and at the ends has a ring-shaped coupling fitting 51, which is received on a part of the fitting 54 formed as a post 55. The fitting part 51 is shown to have two external diametrically opposed keys, which upon depression allows retraction of the lock wedge 61, which are shown to engage in a waist notch 57 in the respective post 54. The wedges 61 can be retracted from the shown position by depression of the two keys. In the locked position, the fitting 51 has a ring-shaped surface 71 (FIG. 7) that abuts against the appurtenant surface 81 around the bottom part of the post 54 (FIG. 8). The surface 71 has a plurality of radially directed grooves 72 spaced-apart around the post. The surface 81 around the post 54 has one or more radial ridges receivable in grooves 72 mating thereto. Then, the grooves 72 can receive the ridges 85 on the surface 81 in a plurality of different rotary positions of the fitting part 51 and rotationally secure the fitting part 51 in many different rotary positions. The end portions 36 have a certain degree of resilient elasticity and are fixedly connected to the respective fitting 51. The end portions 36 have a greater width than the thickness of the front piece 3, and in FIG. 4 it is shown that the elongate end portions 36 planely are bent over against each other in a bent-over area 37 at a certain distance from the fitting 51. Preferably, this distance amounts to somewhat less than 10 cm, by suitable choice of the flexural rigidity and elasticity of the lateral end portions 36. Thus, the end-portion part 38 closest to the respective fitting 51 will pivot in the normal plane of the axis of rotation of the fitting part 51, so that the bent-over areas 37 of the portions 36 can be moved along the corresponding circular arcs that are centred to the fittings 51. Then, the bent-over areas 37, 37 can be moved in a plane parallel to the sheet 2 and in that connection form support cushions for, for instance, the cheek bone areas of the child sitting in the carrying pocket 4. In this way, and by accurately selecting the horizontal length of the upper border part 35, it is possible to adjust the upper border part 35 as a headrest, which makes it possible to support the head of the child in an upright position, with the nose of the child between the fittings 51 and with the cheek bone areas of the child resting against the bent-over portions 37, such as is illustrated in FIG. 5.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that the shoulder strap 52 on the lower border thereof has an edge bulge 81 that is comprised of an undercut channel 82 in a slide fitting 84 connected to the end 61 of the stabilizing strap via an L-shaped connection element 91, which is detachably received in an appurtenant recess 92 in the fitting 84.

From FIG. 9, it is seen that the fitting 84 comprises a pivotally mounted lever part 86, one arm 87 of which forms a movable part of the groove 82, and the other arm 88 of which is supported by the foot 93 of the fitting part 91. The arm part 88 is shown to have an oblique wedging surface in contact with the foot 33, which in turn rests on a plastic sliding surface in the fitting 84. From FIG. 9, it is seen that the opening 92 mouths on the upperside of the fitting 84 and is in the form of an elongate slot 95 that approaches the pivot of the lever 86 toward the upper edge part 89 of the fitting. If the tensile force in the stabilizing strap 60 aims to pull the fitting 84 in the upward direction along the bulge 81, the fitting element 91 is displaced upward along the guide groove 95, and the fitting foot 33 will pivot the lever 86 so that the same stably seizes the edge bulge 81 and prevents further displacement of the fitting 84 in the upward direction along the shoulder strap 52.

With the exception of the co-operation surfaces 71, 81 according to FIGS. 7 and 8, the associated fitting parts 51, 54 may be of the design described in more detail of the fitting parts 70, 80 in WO 03/003880.

By the fact that the slide rails 50 extend as a continuous arch between the two vertical side edges and horizontal upper edge of the sheet, the portion 53 of the shoulder strap 52 can be displaced into an optimal position that is regulated by the body dimensions of the user and the load in question.

The waist strap 1 has, of course, adjustment fittings that allow selectable adjustment of the circumference of the waist belt 1 and that allow opening of the waist belt.

In FIG. 3, the straps 52, 60 have, for the sake of lucidity, been omitted.

The fitting parts 54 have both been shown stiffly connected to laterally spaced-apart positions of the stiff sheet 25, on a common height level, but it is feasible to dispense with a stiff lateral mutual coupling between the fitting parts 54, and instead let them be carried, for instance, on a chest strap portion each of a baby carrier of the kind that is disclosed in WO 03/003880, wherein one of co-operating fitting parts 51, 54 should be formed for mutual rotational securing, and, wherein the lateral end portions of the upper border portion of the front piece should be made to be folded over at a radial distance from the centre of the fitting part, for the formation of the laterally displaceable bent-over portions of the end portions of the upper border portion. 

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A child-carrying device comprising a baby carrier (1, 2, 52), a flexible front piece (3), which at upper laterally spaced-apart portions, by means of detachable laterally spaced-apart couplings (31), is connected to the baby carrier, the front piece (3) having a lower central portion that, by an appurtenant connection (40), is connected to an adjacent part of the baby carrier, whereby the front piece (3) forms a child-carrying pocket, the front piece (3) having an upper border part that extends above the level of the upper laterally spaced-apart couplings and has laterally projecting end portions at each side, each of the end portions at the end thereof carrying a first coupling fitting (51), which detachably can co-operate with an appurtenant second coupling fitting (54), the second coupling fitting being carried by the baby carrier in laterally spaced-apart positions, characterized in that the first and second coupling fittings have formations (85, 72) that in the coupled state of the first and second coupling fittings co-operate with each other and provide rotationally security of the first coupling fitting (51) in one of a plurality of mutually selectable rotary positions relative the second coupling fitting in a plane, corresponding to the front side or the back side of the user of the child-carrying device.
 8. Child-carrying device according to claim 7, characterized in that the projecting end portions of the upper border part of the front piece are flexible and resiliently elastic at least in a longitudinal section (38) thereof that substantially rigidly connects to the first coupling fitting, and conveyed by the first coupling fitting (51) to its rotary orientation around the second coupling fitting (54), the end portions of the front piece being bendable to form bent-over areas (37) that form support against the respective side of the face of the child.
 9. Child-carrying device according to claim 7, characterized in that the second coupling fitting (54) is in the form of a post having a waist (57) for locking lugs (61) belonging to the first coupling fitting that is ring-shaped and fits over the post, the locking lugs (61) being spring-loaded against a displacement position in which they engage with the waist, and the locking lugs being coupled to outer press buttons that upon actuation retract the lugs from the engagement with the waist.
 10. Child-carrying device according to claim 7, characterized in that, on a foot plate from which the post projects, the second coupling device (54) has at least one formation (55) that can engage in one of a plurality of formations (72) complementary herewith on the first coupling fitting (51) is in axial locking engagement with the second coupling fitting (54).
 11. Child-carrying device according to claim 7, characterized in that the baby carrier comprises a stiff sheet (2) on which the second coupling fittings (54) are mounted.
 12. Child-carrying device according to claim 11, characterized in that the stiff sheet is carried from a waist belt (1) included in the baby carrier, and that the second coupling fittings (54) are carried in the vicinity of the upper border of the stiff sheet (2). 